Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Fairy Tale News Roundup: Obscure Films, Bullfighter Snow White, Japanese Monsters, Snow Queen Productions, New Maleficent Trailer!

Quick fairy tale news round up! We opened the show on Monday so everything has been insane, and I will have a post with pics soon!



10 Obscure Fairy Tale Films (Flavorwire)
Flavorwire has given us a list of obscure (and I mean OBSCURE) fairy tale films! Not only are the films themselves obscure, the tales are refreshingly so as well! They look very foreign (lots of Russian, Italian, Slavic and Japanese films) and trippy and delicious, so check them out!

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Why you need to watch Spanish Snow White movie "Blancanieves" AT ONCE. (Hello, Tailor)
In addition to the other two Snow Whites that came out recently, we apparently missed the good one! Hello Tailor tells us all about the Spanish Snow White movie Blancanieves, in which Snow White grows up and becomes... wait for it... a BULLFIGHTER! But wait, there's more! 1920s carnival-esque design, focus on familial relationships and no prince! I cannot wait to see it. Here is the trailer:



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14 Terrifying Japanese Monsters, Myths and Spirits

Since I am also looping mythology and folklore into my mission a bit, I thought I'd include these! My favorite is the Aka Manto who wanders around bathrooms and asks you what color toilet paper you want. Your choice determines how he will kill you. The most terrifying, though, is the Kuchisake-Onna, who wears a surgical masks and asks children if they think she is pretty. When the kids say yes, she reveals that her mouth is slit wide, like the Joker. She asks again and if they say no, she cuts them in half. If they say yes, she slits their mouths like hers. <shudders>

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In the wake of the announcement that Frozen is going to be a stage musical, Once Upon a Blog has been doing a lovely series on plays of the Snow Queen. It is amazing how beautiful, imaginative and different they are! (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)

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New Maleficent Trailer (Everyone)
Everyone covered the new Maleficent trailer to mixed success. Once Upon a Blog screen caps it, and seems to have a pretty positive view of it. Io9 is so not cool with the synopsis:
"The untold story of Disney's most iconic villain from the 1959 classic "Sleeping Beauty." A beautiful, pure-hearted young woman with stunning black wings, Maleficent has an idyllic life growing up in a peaceable forest kingdom, until one day when an invading army of humans threatens the harmony of the land. Maleficent rises to be the land's fiercest protector, but she ultimately suffers a ruthless betrayal - an act that begins to turn her pure heart to stone. Bent on revenge, Maleficent faces an epic battle with the king of the humans and, as a result, places a curse upon his newborn infant Aurora. As the child grows, Maleficent realizes that Aurora holds the key to peace in the kingdom - and to Maleficent's true happiness as well."
They worry Disney is turning their greatest villain into "a misunderstood goth girl with amazing headwear?" Also, they are creeped out by the fairies, and I have to say I am with them on that one. The Mary Sue simply says "DEAR GOD, WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?" Flavorwire simply hopes Elle Fanning does not drop the accent, and that Angelina maintains her fantastic bitch face throughout the film.

Here it is! Care to weigh in?


2 comments:

  1. Yay for Glassheart! My apologies re nit blogging it yet - I've had trouble getting time to do regular news and the multiple power outages here aren't helping. :/
    Blancanieves - is BRILLIANT! It was the first movie I saw this year and a wonderful, wonderful way to start off. I was so excited about it, I collected about 100 pics and 50 articles to reference and quote and overwhelmed myself into not posting at all. It's an excellently made film (it makes The Artist look like barely more than an experimental nod to the artform of silent movies) and is a really great interpretation of Snow White. It's intentionally broad at times, exploiting the silent film vehicle but as a result it works even better. I thought I'd like it but I didn't - I LOVED this film.
    I recommend the Flavorwire article too on "obscure fairy tale films" too. definitely worth hunting some of those down.
    Maleficent: yeah - I'm not sure why The MarySue is so down on it. Did they not realize it was essentially going to be a live action version of the animated film, complete with all those iconic scenes and characters, but from Maleficent's POV? They've said so all along. I've been pleasantly surprised it's come out looking as good as it has so far. I guess I expected to hate the fairies with a passion but they're no worse than the animated ones. Considering what the film is supposed to be, I'm not sure why the disappointment/criticism. Did they not read the initial synopsis, teasers etc? Maleficent was always going to be the "true hero" here or perhaps, in the end, the anti-hero. It's better than I expected, although, honestly, my expectations were on the low side (very low). I think it will do the job they meant it to. *shrugs*

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    1. Gypsy, it is all good! I hadn't sent you production photos yet, so I wasn't expecting it! Thank you for helping me out with it!

      I guess The MarySue expected more anti-hero than hero? More villain with solid convictions than secretly trying to save the kingdom? Not sure. Excited for it though! I was not prepared for CGI fairies, though. I was thinking they were live action, which made the CGI jarring. Especially since I love those three actresses so much.

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